3 Unique Ways You Can Use Reverse Psychology in Marketing and Why It Works.

When it comes to marketing, there are many tactics that can be used in passing messages to the buying public most of which are very direct in nature. Simply give reasons why they should buy by showing or talking about the features of the product or service and sale is expected to be made.

We also know the marketing world is saturated and so much noise can make it tough to be heard by the consumers hence the need for some indirect marketing tactics like reverse marketing which is simply a form of marketing that uses reverse psychology.

What is Reverse Psychology?

Simply put, it is making someone take action A (which is what you want though) by suggesting opposite action B.

From the above, reverse marketing takes roots in the fact that most people do not want to be told what to do. They want to feel in control of their decisions so telling them to buy in a direct manner may sometimes sound like you are taking control from them and they may become reluctant.

Moreso, most marketing messages are already telling them what to buy through direct advertisements so you may want to try something different.

When to use it in marketing and Why it works.

1) Email Marketing

You can use it when coming up with your email headlines.

A large portion of people will open an email simply because of the headline- if it interests them.

According to Optinmonster, 33% of email recipients open emails because of catchy subject lines.

Reverse marketing could be used in crafting interesting email headlines when used efficiently which will increase the chances of your emails being opened.

Let’s look at these email headlines as examples

‘Do not open this email, please’

‘You don’t need to read this email if you hate making a profit.’

‘I was told the content of this email is very bad’

How many people do you think will not want to open an email carrying any of these titles?

Very few, really very few (if any)

Why it works: Human beings are naturally curious so if you tell them not to open or read, they tend to do otherwise to find out what you are ‘hiding’ from them.

2) Selling pricey product or service

Sometimes you are faced with a potential customer who you would rather prefer to buy a pricey item rather than the cheaper one because it has a high-profit margin or for other reasons best known to you. You might want to sell the pricey to them without necessarily selling. Look at this example

“You see handbags made from high-quality cowhide leather and great workmanship can be very expensive hence the price of this B handbag, I mean they last for years too but I’ll understand if you will rather go for this cheaper option A handbag which is good too even if it’s for few months because that is what you can afford especially since option B handbag is pricey”

You see, the seller sold handbag B’s great qualities while agreeing with the buyer in her choice for option A.

But then who does not want a high-quality handbag?

Why it works: People have an ego and want to be associated with the ability to spend on expensive items…even if it’s on what they can not afford… immediately.

3) The wording of opt-in messages

If using opt-in forms on your website to generate subscribers to your email list (which by the way you should do if serious about growing your email list), you can opt for the ones with the yes/no click feature but instead of a simple yes/no answer click, you could frame it in a similar manner as the below example

”Would you join 100,000 successful entrepreneurs who have subscribed to our newsletter: 10 ways of increasing sales by 50%?”

Yes, am interested.

No, I don’t ever want to increase my sales.

Who does not like to increase sales? seriously?

Why it works: People always want to belong to a group that is seen in a positive light. They don’t want to be seen as different especially in a negative light so the herd mentality kicks in and they naturally refuse to select the no options- they will opt-in to be part of the 100,000 successful entrepreneurs who have subscribed!

The list is not limited to these 3, you can use reverse psychology as much as your imagination goes. Just know it is more likely to work when a person has a negative emotional reaction to being persuaded.

Go ahead and be creative.